Website Updating: Dinosaurs, Department Stores, Car Dealerships, and Mini Golf

No news is good news for the most part when it comes to combing these sections at my website. There’s only one thing worth mentioning in the entire Dinosaur Statues section and it is good news for a change. This dinosaur in DeBary, FL was found at a junkyard and moved to an auto parts business in 2011. He was dressed up for different holidays and was much loved by the community:

In 2022, he was donated to the city and moved to the Splash Pad. Google StreetView has him up now and he looks great. The city will supposedly continue the costume tradition:

I hope you have the Kleenex handy for the rest of this post. Moving on to the Department Stores section. Oh dear, this Kress building in Helena, AR had been vacant for many years and now has apparently collapsed:

The Kress in Brunswick, GA looked like this since around 1958:

Major work has been going on since around 2019 — my photo from 2021:

Here’s what it will look like when they are done. I dunno — pretty dull, if you ask me:

The Ben Franklin store in Chariton, IA has closed and this sign is gone:

The Ben Franklin sign in Dalhart, TX is gone now. By my count, there are only about 17 of the 2500 Ben Franklin stores or their remaining signs left nationwide:

The former Woolworth in Hackensack, NJ was gutted around 2018:

and now StreetView has the finished product of the “remodeling” — I mean, why bother?! Just a tiny strip of the Art Deco details — and even those were neutered. And, of course, no attempt to preserve the terrazzo shown above:

Moving on to the Car Dealerships section. Earlier this year, the “Buick” letters were removed from this sign at Wilcoxson Buick-Cadillac-GMC Truck in Pueblo, CO. The dealership is now known as Wilcoxson GMC Truck:

This former Munroe-Zeder Chrysler-Plymouth dealership building from 1947 in Miami, FL was demolished earlier this year:

This former Ford dealership in Du Quoin, IL…:

… has been remodeled (neutered) into this:

Let’s end this post with the Mini Golf section. The Happy Golf in Elwood, IN is officially gone. It was built in 2009 and had closed by 2018. In 2022, the obstacles were gone and now there are only some rough patches in the grass where this used to be. Here is some of the cuteness that once was:

Mason’s Mini Golf in Leominster, MA is also gone now. It was located next door to Mason’s Bowling Center which was built in 1960. Both businesses closed last year and new development is underway. More handmade cuteness gone forever: